Sunday.
The final step.
60 minutes to get a place in history.
All the hard work, long hours of practice and endless cliches.
One more game to get to the Big Game.
Your humble author went a middling 3-3 (4-4 if you must include the last game) last week, as we roll into the NFL semi-final round preview.
Baltimore Ravens Vs New England Patriots(NE -7/50.0)
Sunday, Jan 22 2012 at 3:00 PM (CBS)
So Baltimore comes in with great confidence and a ferocious D (if Ed Reed isn’t hurt as bad as it looked) going into the House of Brady. This is the stereotypical “Great Offense vs Great Defense” game. This game will come down to 1 matchup. The Pats front 7 vs Ray Rice. If they can contain Rice, get Brady the ball multiple times in the first half and make Flacco beat them, this game will not be close. If Rice can chew up yardage and the Ravens can move it enough to take some deep shots, they will have a great chance to win.
I don’t think the Ravens have enough to stop the TE killer duo of the Pats. I think their defense is a little older than they want to admit. They are built to beat the Steelers, not the Pats. On the other side, I think the Pats defense looked very good against a very less than mediocre Denver team. We shall see if the defense is back and really are that good. Flacco wants to be taken seriously as a top tier starter. This is where it needs to happen. The Ravens may be just a mediocre offense, but it has far and away more weapons than Denver did.
I think this game will be close at the half 13-10ish…The Ravens will need to hold to field goals and hit 1 or 2 breakaway plays to win.
Final Score? New England 31- Ravens 21 (Pats and the over)
New York Football Giants vs the San Francisco 49ers (SF -2.5/42)
Sunday, Jan 22 2012 at 6:30 PM
San Fran has been on a roll all year at home. They are a smash mouth, play action team with a mobile QB, super TE and a great defense. The Giants have been on a roll for a month. Eli has proven his worth and can win any game on his own with his trio of good recievers. The weather may greatly break in the 49’ers direction. Rain and slop will slow the pass attack and pass rush of the Giants. This game has all the markings of a slobber-knocker.
This game is a very similar match-up to the first game of the day. Alex Smith is trying to go from #1 overall bust to Super Bowl Winner. Eli Manning is trying to become the Alpha Manning. The history between these franchises is deep with some truly memorable games.
Home field, weather, destiny will lead the 49ers to a win, a cover and the over.